Non-uniformly perforated plastic bag

Abstract

Provided is a perforated plastic bag wherein the volume of said bag is 100 liters or more; wherein the average perforation diameter is 500 micrometers or less; wherein said plastic bag comprises a lower zone and a top zone, wherein the perforation density of said lower zone is greater than the perforation density of said top zone. Also provided is a method of using such a plastic bag.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A package comprising
 a box and 
 a non-uniformly perforated plastic bag located within the box, 
 wherein the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag comprises a lower zone having a perforation density and a top zone having a perforation density, and 
 wherein the perforation density of the lower zone is greater than the perforation density of the top zone. 
 
     
     
       2. The package of  claim 1 , wherein the box comprises holes having a diameter of about 20 mm or higher. 
     
     
       3. The package of  claim 1 , wherein a ratio of the perforation density of said lower zone to the perforation density of said top zone is 1.1:1 or higher. 
     
     
       4. The package of  claim 1 , wherein the package does not include kraft paper liner. 
     
     
       5. The package of  claim 1 , wherein the package further comprises a kraft paper liner located between a portion of the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag and a bottom of the box. 
     
     
       6. The package of  claim 5 , wherein a portion of the kraft paper liner is located between the lower zone of the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag and the top zone of the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag. 
     
     
       7. The package of  claim 5 , wherein the box comprises a first side, a second side, and the bottom of the box extends between and interconnects the first side and the second side. 
     
     
       8. The package of  claim 7 , wherein the kraft paper liner has a first end and a second end and the kraft paper liner is arranged so that a portion of the first end is located between the second end and the bottom of the box. 
     
     
       9. The package of  claim 8 , wherein a portion of the top zone of the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag is located between the first end of the kraft paper liner and the side of the box. 
     
     
       10. The package of  claim 5 , wherein the kraft paper liner comprises perforations having a diameter of about 0.5 cm or higher. 
     
     
       11. The package of  claim 1 , wherein the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag is closed by a gripping device. 
     
     
       12. The package of  claim 11 , wherein the gripping device is a rubber band or tape. 
     
     
       13. A non-uniformly perforated plastic bag comprising
 i) a top zone having a banana-specific perforation defined as a total area of perforations in the top zone divided by a mass of bananas enclosed by the top zone, and 
 ii) a lower zone having a banana-specific perforation of about 0.025 mm 2 /kg or more, defined as a total area of perforations in the lower zone divided by a mass of bananas enclosed by the lower zone, 
 wherein a ratio of the banana-specific perforation of the lower zone to the banana-specific perforation of the top zone is about 6:1 or less. 
 
     
     
       14. The non-uniformly perforated plastic bag of  claim 13 , wherein the banana-specific perforation the top zone is about 3 mm 2 /kg or less. 
     
     
       15. The non-uniformly perforated plastic bag of  claim 13 , wherein the banana-specific perforation of the top zone is about 0.05 mm 2 /kg to about 2 mm 2 /kg. 
     
     
       16. The non-uniformly perforated plastic bag of  claim 13 , wherein the ratio of the banana-specific perforation of the lower zone to the banana-specific perforation of the top zone is about 0.3:1 or higher. 
     
     
       17. The non-uniformly perforated plastic bag of  claim 13 , wherein the ratio of the banana-specific perforation of the lower zone to the banana-specific perforation of the top zone is about 0.4:1 to about 5:1. 
     
     
       18. The non-uniformly perforated plastic bag of  claim 13 , wherein the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag includes a first set of lines of perforation and a second set of lines of perforation that are generally shorter than the first set of lines of perforation. 
     
     
       19. A package comprising
 a box, and 
 a non-uniformly perforated plastic bag located within the box, 
 wherein the package is configured with the means for maintaining atmospheric conditions inside the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag so that harvested bananas can be stored in the package for 7 to 20 days. 
 
     
     
       20. The package of  claim 19 , wherein the non-uniformly perforated plastic bag comprises a lower zone and a top zone, each of the lower zone and the top zone having a perforation density, and the perforation density of the lower zone is greater than the perforation density of the top zone.